Consumer Price Index, Midwest Region – December 2020

Area prices up 0.1 percent over the past month, up 1.1 percent from a year ago

Prices in the Midwest Region, as measured by the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), crept up 0.1 percent in December, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. (See table A.) The December increase was most influenced by higher prices for energy. (Data in this report are not seasonally adjusted. Accordingly, month-to-month changes may reflect seasonal influences.)

Over the last 12 months, the CPI-U advanced 1.1 percent. (See chart 1 and table A.) The index for all items less food and energy increased 1.6 percent over the year and food prices rose 2.8 percent. In contrast, energy prices declined 7.4 percent. (See table 1.)

Food

Food prices increased 0.2 percent for the month of December. (See table 1.) Prices for food at home rose 0.2 percent and prices for food away from home inched up 0.1 percent for the same period.

Over the year, food prices increased 2.8 percent. Prices for food at home rose 2.7 percent and prices for food away from home advanced 2.9 percent since a year ago.

Energy

The energy index increased 2.5 percent over the month. The increase was overwhelmingly due to higher prices for gasoline (5.2 percent), though prices for natural gas also increased (0.5 percent). Prices for electricity were unchanged for the same period.

Energy prices declined 7.4 percent over the year, as prices for gasoline dropped 16.4 percent. In contrast, prices paid for natural gas service increased 5.5 percent and prices for electricity rose 1.3 percent during the past year.

All items less food and energy

The index for all items less food and energy declined 0.2 percent in December. Lower prices for apparel (-2.0 percent), used cars and trucks (-1.2 percent), and medical care (-0.2 percent) were partially offset by higher prices for shelter (0.2 percent), new vehicles (0.4 percent), and other goods and services (0.3 percent).

Over the year, the index for all items less food and energy increased 1.6 percent. Components contributing to the increase included shelter (1.8 percent), new and used motor vehicles (6.2 percent), and medical care services (3.7 percent). Partly offsetting the increases was a price decrease in apparel (-4.5 percent) and motor vehicle insurance (-4.9 percent).

Month	2016		2017		2018		2019		2020
	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month	1-month	12-month
January	-0.3	0.8	0.7	2.2	0.4	1.6	-0.2	0.8	0.4	2.5
February	0.2	0.4	0.8	2.4	0.9	1.7	0.9	1.3	0.3	2.1
March	0.6	0.5	0.2	1.9	0.4	1.8	1.3	1.7	-0.5	1.0
April	1.1	0.8	0.5	1.8	0.6	1.8	0.9	1.5	-1.1	-0.4
May	0.8	0.8	0.4	1.4	0.9	2.3	0.6	1.3	0.3	-0.4
June	1.0	0.8	0.0	0.9	0.7	2.5	0.3	1.2	0.8	0.4
July	0.1	0.4	0.1	1.3	0.1	2.4	0.2	1.5	0.5	0.7
August	-0.3	0.6	0.3	1.5	-0.1	2.1	0.2	1.5	0.4	1.1
September	0.4	1.1	0.5	1.5	0.1	1.9	0.0	1.4	0.2	1.3
October	0.1	1.0	0.1	1.5	0.2	2.2	0.2	1.5	-0.1	1.0
November	-0.4	1.2	0.0	1.9	-0.5	1.4	0.0	1.9	-0.2	1.0
December	-0.2	1.8	0.0	1.7	-0.9	1.3	-0.2	2.3	0.1	1.1

The January 2021 Consumer Price Index for the Midwest Region is scheduled to be released on Wednesday, February 10, 2021.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic Impact on December 2020 Consumer Price Index Data

Data collection by personal visit for the Consumer Price Index (CPI) program has been suspended since March 16, 2020. When possible, data normally collected by personal visit were collected either online or by phone. Additionally, data collection in December was affected by the temporary closing or limited operations of certain types of establishments. These factors resulted in an increase in the number of prices considered temporarily unavailable and imputed. While the CPI program attempted to collect as much data as possible, many indexes are based on smaller amounts of collected prices than usual, and a small number of indexes that are normally published were not published this month. Additional information is available at https://www.bls.gov/covid19/effects-of-covid-19-pandemic-on-consumer-pric e-index.htm.

Technical Note

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measures of the average change in prices over time in a fixed market basket of goods and services. The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes CPIs for two population groups: (1) a CPI for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) which covers approximately 93 percent of the total U.S. population and (2) a CPI for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) which covers approximately 29 percent of the total U.S. population. The CPI-U includes, in addition to wage earners and clerical workers, groups such as professional, managerial, and technical workers, the self-employed, short-term workers, the unemployed, and retirees and others not in the labor force.

The CPI is based on prices of food, clothing, shelter, and fuels, transportation fares, charges for doctors' and dentists' services, drugs, and the other goods and services that people buy for day-to-day living. Each month, prices are collected in 75 urban areas across the country from about 6,000 housing units and approximately 22,000 retail establishments-department stores, supermarkets, hospitals, filling stations, and other types of stores and service establishments. All taxes directly associated with the purchase and use of items are included in the index.

The index measures price changes from a designated reference date; for most of the CPI-U the reference base is 1982-84 equals 100. An increase of 7 percent from the reference base, for example, is shown as 107.000. Alternatively, that relationship can also be expressed as the price of a base period market basket of goods and services rising from $100 to $107. For further details see the CPI home page on the internet at www.bls.gov/cpiand the CPI section of the BLS Handbook of Methods available on the internet at www.bls.gov/opub/hom/cpi/.

In calculating the index, price changes for the various items in each location are averaged together with weights that represent their importance in the spending of the appropriate population group. Local data are then combined to obtain a U.S. city average. Because the sample size of a local area is smaller, the local area index is subject to substantially more sampling and other measurement error than the national index. In addition, local indexes are not adjusted for seasonal influences. As a result, local area indexes show greater volatility than the national index, although their long-term trends are quite similar. NOTE:Area indexes do not measure differences in the level of prices between cities; they only measure the average change in prices for each area since the base period.

The Midwest region is comprised of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: [phone]; Federal Relay Service: [phone].

Expenditure category	Indexes			Percent change from
	Oct. 2020	Nov. 2020	Dec. 2020	Dec. 2019	Oct. 2020	Nov. 2020
All items	241.740	241.316	241.453	1.1	-0.1	0.1
All items (December 1977 = 100)	393.324	392.634	392.857
Food and beverages	256.336	255.325	255.750	2.8	-0.2	0.2
Food	255.915	254.737	255.213	2.8	-0.3	0.2
Food at home	234.245	232.725	233.262	2.7	-0.4	0.2
Cereals and bakery products	265.042	265.472	265.348	3.8	0.1	0.0
Meats, poultry, fish, and eggs	259.723	258.428	255.078	2.0	-1.8	-1.3
Dairy and related products	206.071	206.248	209.573	4.4	1.7	1.6
Fruits and vegetables	272.740	270.622	269.604	1.0	-1.1	-0.4
Nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials	166.397	164.546	168.164	3.0	1.1	2.2
Other food at home	203.941	201.587	202.666	3.1	-0.6	0.5
Food away from home	291.593	290.913	291.304	2.9	-0.1	0.1
Alcoholic beverages	260.147	261.211	261.004	2.5	0.3	-0.1
Housing	238.811	239.340	239.663	2.0	0.4	0.1
Shelter	287.428	287.663	288.195	1.8	0.3	0.2
Rent of primary residence	289.897	290.772	291.126	2.7	0.4	0.1
Owners' equivalent rent of residences	294.451	294.774	295.119	2.2	0.2	0.1
Owners' equivalent rent of primary residence	294.372	294.697	295.046	2.2	0.2	0.1
Fuels and utilities	223.323	223.823	224.571	2.6	0.6	0.3
Household energy	178.375	178.689	179.203	2.2	0.5	0.3
Energy services	185.740	185.929	186.216	2.7	0.3	0.2
Electricity	202.512	198.366	198.366	1.3	-2.0	0.0
Utility (piped) gas service	146.951	153.990	154.711	5.5	5.3	0.5
Household furnishings and operations	117.929	119.187	118.772	3.1	0.7	-0.3
Apparel	112.418	108.941	106.713	-4.5	-5.1	-2.0
Transportation	196.665	195.565	196.331	-2.3	-0.2	0.4
Private transportation	194.860	193.579	194.863	-0.9	0.0	0.7
New and used motor vehicles	103.630	103.233	102.693	6.2	-0.9	-0.5
New vehicles	140.731	140.923	141.477	2.4	0.5	0.4
New cars and trucks	99.469	99.601	99.999	2.4	0.5	0.4
New cars	139.786	139.935	140.583	4.4	0.6	0.5
Used cars and trucks	154.432	152.256	150.443	10.7	-2.6	-1.2
Motor fuel	187.838	180.330	189.676	-16.4	1.0	5.2
Gasoline (all types)	186.878	179.169	188.417	-16.4	0.8	5.2
Gasoline, unleaded regular	180.991	173.379	182.575	-16.6	0.9	5.3
Gasoline, unleaded midgrade	223.528	214.101	226.383	-13.8	1.3	5.7
Gasoline, unleaded premium	215.486	208.823	215.847	-14.2	0.2	3.4
Motor vehicle insurance	682.429	701.290	702.580	-4.9	3.0	0.2
Medical care	520.319	519.503	518.433	2.6	-0.4	-0.2
Medical care commodities	378.711	377.928	377.106	-2.6	-0.4	-0.2
Medical care services	567.491	566.662	565.508	3.7	-0.3	-0.2
Professional services	430.030	429.926	429.675	1.7	-0.1	-0.1
Recreation	123.656	124.170	123.939	0.7	0.2	-0.2
Education and communication	141.188	140.452	140.421	1.4	-0.5	0.0
Tuition, other school fees, and child care	1,219.259	1,217.797	1,217.907	1.6	-0.1	0.0
Other goods and services	444.292	445.559	446.941	1.6	0.6	0.3
Commodity and service group
Commodities	180.172	179.009	179.393	0.4	-0.4	0.2
Commodities less food and beverages	144.462	143.297	143.650	-1.1	-0.6	0.2
Nondurables less food and beverages	181.590	178.840	180.235	-5.9	-0.7	0.8
Durables	105.807	105.717	105.410	4.3	-0.4	-0.3
Services	305.381	305.793	305.650	1.6	0.1	0.0
Special aggregate indexes
All items less shelter	227.818	227.173	227.180	0.9	-0.3	0.0
All items less medical care	228.537	228.131	228.327	1.0	-0.1	0.1
Commodities less food	147.994	146.884	147.223	-0.9	-0.5	0.2
Nondurables	217.957	216.022	216.962	-1.2	-0.5	0.4
Nondurables less food	185.937	183.435	184.724	-5.2	-0.7	0.7
Services less rent of shelter	333.788	334.403	333.536	1.5	-0.1	-0.3
Services less medical care services	285.751	286.265	286.203	1.3	0.2	0.0
Energy	182.841	179.638	184.125	-7.4	0.7	2.5
All items less energy	250.459	250.287	250.023	1.8	-0.2	-0.1
All items less food and energy	250.229	250.235	249.839	1.6	-0.2	-0.2
Note: Index applies to a month as a whole, not to any specific date.